A relentless barrage of attacks by Ian Bibby inside the final 25 kilometres on stage six of An Post Rás today was enough to set up a thrilling sprint finish, with the NFTO team rider emerging victorious following a thrilling sprint to the line.
Bibby attacked the descent on the final category two climb of the stage and from this point on he never looked like relinquishing his lead position. Westmeath man Damien Shaw tracked Bibby all the way, finishing in second place in what was an impressive show of strength and guile by the Louth Team Asea rider.
The longest stage of the race took the riders up the early category three climb of Drumsheen and then on to the most difficult climb thus far in this year’s race, the 10.1 kilometre category two ascent of Altinure. The latter came just over 25 kilometres from the end and was used as a springboard to propel Bibby to his maiden stage victory of An Post Rás in Ballinamore.
Approaching the 100 kilometre the peloton had managed to reel in the gap to three minutes and thirty seconds however the leaders always looked to be in control.
Results
| # | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ian Bibby (GBr) NFTO | 3:35:47 |
| 2 | Damien Shaw (Irl) | Row 1 - Cell 2 |
| 3 | Edward Laverack (GBr) JLT Condor | Row 2 - Cell 2 |
| 4 | Mark Dowlinf (Irl) | 0:00:21 |
| 5 | Liam Holohan (GBr) Genesis Madison | Row 4 - Cell 2 |
| 6 | Clemens Frankhauser (Den) Team Hrinkow Advarics Cycleang | Row 5 - Cell 2 |
| 7 | Marco Tizza (Ita) Team Idea 2010 ASD | Row 6 - Cell 2 |
| 8 | Conno Dunne (Irl) An Post - Chain Reaction | Row 7 - Cell 2 |
| 9 | Sean McKinnon (Can) | Row 8 - Cell 2 |
| 10 | Rhys lloys (Gbr) NFTO | Row 9 - Cell 2 |
General Classification
| # | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lukas Postlberger (Aut) Tirol Cycling Team | 17:53:48 |
| 2 | Joshua Edmondosn (GBr) An Post - Chain Reaction | 0:01:05 |
| 3 | Ryan Mullen (IRL) An Post - Chain Reaction | 0:01:52 |
| 4 | Robert Partridge (GBr) NFTO | 0:03:10 |
| 5 | Aaron Gate (Nzl) An Post - Chain Reaction | 0:04:32 |
| 6 | Jaap de Man (Ned) Team3M | 0:05:21 |
| 7 | Aidis Kruopis (Ltu) | 0:07:29 |
| 8 | Alex Frame (Nzl) An Post - Chain Reaction | 0:07:34 |
| 9 | Martyn Irvibe (Irl) Madison Genesis | 0:07:44 |
| 10 | Sebastian Schonberger (Aut) | 0:11:11 |
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